Selecting Domain Name That Invites Offensive Postings, Adding Offensive Headlines Defeats Communications Decency Act § 230 Immunity

In Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment Recordings, LLC, et al., Civil Action No: 09-219 (U.S. District Court, E.D. Kentucky, order entered August 12, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky held that the Web site operator of “TheDirty.com” lost protection under Communications and Decency Act (“CDA”) Section 230 by choosing a domain name that invited offensive postings and supplementing user-generated defamatory content with his own comments. Section 230 grants interactive online service providers immunity from certain types of liability stemming from content created by others.  Here, the site was liable for defamation since the host participated in creating the defamatory content.

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